Labeled Learners

Home education is a wonderful opportunity for children who may have a learning disability or those who learn differently. We all know the story of Thomas Alva Edison being labeled as “addled” in school and that his furious Mother removed him from that scenario and home-taught him. She didn’t think he was addled at all, but extremely bright. Thomas Edison said many years later, “My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had someone to live for, someone I must not disappoint.” In his “Biography Of Thomas Alva Edison” Gerald Beals wrote, “At age 11, Tom’s parents tried to appease his ever more voracious appetite for knowledge by teaching him how to use the resources of the local library. This skill became the foundation of many factors that gradually caused him to prefer learning via independent self instruction.” And that is what parents do. We find the best resources for our children and we help them learn how to find them as well.

Mary Nix gathered a series of good articles on learning differently in Taking A Closer Look at Learning Disabilities, including A World of Learning by Barbara Theisen, Learning Disabilities or Learning Differences? by Marsha Ransom, An Interview With Dr. Thomas Armstrong by Janie Bowman, Personal Notes on ADD by Janie Bowman, and Homeschooling the Child With ADD or Other Special Needs, which was Elizabeth McCullough’s review of the book by Lenore Colacion Hayes. It’s a weath of reading – all free online – for anyone with questions about kids who face labels and learning difficulties.